


Origin(al)s

by MiracAlice (AliceTheBookGirl)



Series: Funhouse Mirrors [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Identity Reveal, can be read as standalone, where it all began
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-06
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-07-07 13:47:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,789
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15909450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AliceTheBookGirl/pseuds/MiracAlice
Summary: Sneaking out of his house that day was the first decision he ever made on his own. It led to the best day of his life and kept him making his own choices from then on. So who could blame him when he completely ignored Plagg's lackluster advice to keep his identity secret from his partner?Connected to my story Doppelgänger, but can be read as an AU stand alone.





	1. Marinette and Adrien

**Author's Note:**

> To those who have read some of Doppelgänger, this is a two-shot about how AU!Chat and AU!Ladybug "discovered" each other's identities and how they first became friends. Writing this out helps me grasp what I want their relationship to be like as they currently are in Doppelgänger, which is totally a mess right now as I started writing it months ago as self-indulgence. If anyone is waiting for the next chapter, no worries, it's getting there.

“Who orders a croquembouche and expects it to be delivered at seven in the freaking morning?” Marinette muttered under her breath, visible puffs of air dispersing in the chill of the autumn dawn. She did her best to walk briskly down the street while balancing her pastry tower within the confines of its box, hoping the caramel threads wouldn't break if she accidentally knocked it around in her hurry. 

Pausing at a crosswalk to readjust her grip, she briefly glanced up and immediately dropped her precious delivery, but she didn't even notice. Within seconds she was body slamming a tiny old man out of the street to prevent him from being turned into roadkill by a careless driver.

“Oh, my joints,” came the groan from beside her. 

“Oh my gosh, I didn't save you just to hurt you, did I?” Marinette asked frantically, quickly moving beside the old man and hovering worryingly over him. 

He sat up slowly and smiled reassuringly at her. “I am alright, Miss. But how about you?” 

“I'm alright!” Marinette assisted the man back onto the sidewalk and that's when she gasped in horror. “Oh no! The croquembouche!” 

“I am sorry. If I were more attentive, you would not have had to ruin your morning like this.” 

Waving her hands around, Marinette replied, “It's not your fault! I'm just glad you're not hurt. My parents can always make another order. Would you like to come back with me to our bakery? I want to make sure you didn't sprain anything just now.” 

The old man smiled. “That would be very generous of you.” 

...

“Please come by and visit any time, Mr. Chan! Maybe you can help me teach my daughter some Mandarin next time,” Sabine Cheng waved her new friend goodbye from the entrance of the bakery. 

The old man waved back at her over his shoulder before he resumed his walk down the street. Minutes later, he arrived at a quaint massage parlor and made his way inside. 

“Master, was your trip enlightening?”

Master Fu looked at his kwami. “That foreboding feeling that began this morning has only gotten stronger and I have no doubt now that a great threat is in our midst.” Despite his words, he smiled. “But I believe I may have just found our first hero.” 

*****

“I can't believe I just did that,” Adrien huffed under his breath. “I can't believe I just  _ locked _ Nathalie and  _ the Gorilla  _ in the pantry. Oh my god, I'm gonna be in so much trouble.” 

Speed walking down the street, he kept his head down and his hood up, hoping no one would recognize him and out him to all of Paris, including his father. The last thing he needed was to make an embarrassing commotion as his bodyguard physically hauled him back home as bystanders stood around and watched. 

“Adrien! Where are you?” 

Oh, crap. They were already closing in on him! How did they even get out?! 

Hunching his shoulders and gripping the sides of his hood, Adrien sped up while glancing over his shoulder to see if he could spot the usual car. It made him unprepared for crashing into a smaller figure holding a large bakery box. 

“Eep!”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” 

Adrien quickly kneeled down and helped the poor girl to her feet and scrambled to carefully pick up the box she dropped. 

“I should’ve looked where I was going. I swear I’ll pay you back for anything I ruined--”

Oh. 

Adrien finally looked up and noticed the brightest bluebell eyes he had ever seen. This girl was pretty cute. 

“No, I’m usually clumsy so this isn’t all that surprising. You don’t have to pay me at all!”

Opening his mouth to argue with her (he was not raised to destroy others’ property and not take responsibility for it), when he heard Nathalie shout his name again. Furtively glancing around, Adrien didn’t notice that the girl was still talking to him, leaving him unprepared for the small hand that grasped his and pulled him further down the street. 

“Wha--?”

“Just trust me!” The girl looked back and pinned him with a determined gaze that Adrien could’ve sworn lasted centuries, leaving no room for him to doubt her. He tightened his hold on her hand and his feet no longer stumbled as he fell into step with her. 

Less than a minute later, the girl slowed down and rounded a bakery on the corner, approaching a door at the side of the building. Opening it wide, she hurriedly ushered Adrien in before following him and slamming the door closed, leaning her back against it and breathing heavily. Adrien himself was slouched over with his hands on his knees trying to catch his own breath. 

“I think we lost them,” Adrien sighed in relief. “Man, you’re fast!”

“It’s all thanks to years of constantly being late,” she giggled, making Adrien’s stomach do a silly flop. 

Straightening himself out, Adrien gave the girl a smile. “Thanks for helping me out. How’d you even know…?” He trailed off. 

The unfinished question earned him a sympathetic look. “You looked scared. I couldn’t just leave you to deal with it on your own. Why was that lady looking for you?’

Adrien inwardly cringed and rubbed the back of his neck. This girl was so selfless to help out a total stranger and he didn’t want to suddenly unload all his baggage on her. But he didn’t want to lie either. “She’s like…my babysitter,” he began hesitantly, “and my father’s assistant rolled into one.” 

The girl looked at him weirdly but fortunately for Adrien, she didn’t question him further. 

“Well, you’re welcome to hang out with me until you feel it’s safe to leave,” she offered. “Just warning you though, I can’t leave you alone in our home since we’re still kinda strangers and I’ll have to do deliveries throughout the day--”

When she cut herself off, Adrien gazed at her curiously as a look of horror appeared on her face. 

“Oh no!” she suddenly shrieked and flailed her arms wildly, making Adrien jump. 

“What? What is it?”

“I was supposed to deliver the croquembouche to Mrs. Chamack and now it’s probably lying upside down on the sidewalk where I dropped it and gathering an entire colony of ants to it where it’s scaring a whole bunch of pedestrians away, causing a huge obstruction of sidewalk traffic for everyone in Paris!”

Adrien wanted to laugh at how, er, elaborate the girl’s imagination was, but his guilt overrode any feelings of amusement. Putting his hands together in front of him, he begged the girl (his friend? (he almost shook with glee at the prospect, he’s hardly ever had a friend before!)) to let him pay for the lost pastry and any extra costs. 

“You’re not going to lose your job because of this, are you?” he asked alarmingly. 

She dismissed it with a wave. “My parents own this bakery and I just help out on occasion.” She grimaced. “Not too thrilled to tell them I dropped another croquembouche though. Seriously, why is everyone ordering those this week?” She mumbled that last part as she walked through another door that led to a kitchen, gesturing at Adrien to stay put. 

Ten minutes later and the girl walked back with another large box similar to the one she was holding before. 

“I’ve explained the situation to my parents. Ready to make your first delivery from the Tom & Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie?”

“But, can I really go outside and stay hidden?” Adrien asked.

“I thought about that and I think I have a solution. Follow me.”

The two walked up a flight of stairs and entered into a small yet cozy looking home. The girl set her box on a kitchen counter and went to a closet, ruffling inside for something that Adrien could only guess at. Meanwhile, Adrien took the time to look around, spending an extra amount of time at a bookshelf that held loving photos of who he assumed to be family and friends. If he became friends with this girl, would his picture find its own place on this shelf one day? 

“Found it!” 

Adrien tore his gaze away to see the girl triumphantly holding up a motorcycle helmet above her head like it was baby Simba. He found her pose and victorious expression to be utterly endearing. 

“What’s the helmet for?”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s for you to wear, obviously. I have some time before I’m officially late with the delivery, but I’ll have to bring out the bike to make it on time. Plus, the helmet will hide your face even better than the hoodie.”

Accepting the helmet gratefully, Adrien lowered his hood as he gazed at the girl in awe. “You have a license for a bike?”

She shrugged. “My grandma taught me when I was young and it’s convenient to have one.” Pausing, she leaned in close to Adrien, making his heart speed up. Narrowing her eyes, she scrutinized his face curiously. “You look really familiar. Have we really not met before?” 

Placing a hand at the back of his head, Adrien gave a teasing grin and replied smoothly, “I’d remember a sweet personality and adorable face like yours.” 

The girl snatched the helmet back from Adrien and shoved it onto his head as she blushed heavily. “Just follow me,” she mumbled, before she seemed to gain a little confidence and added, “Pretty boy.” 

Adrien smiled widely. For once in his life, he was thankful to be a model. 

...

Looking back on his short fourteen years of life, Adrien was sure he had never experienced as much excitement as he was currently, weaving around cars through the busy streets of Paris on the back of a motorbike with his arms wound tightly around the waist of a girl he dared call his friend. Not to mention this was the first time he was ever out in the city without supervision. His father was going to be furious later… 

Adrien shook his head and tightened his arms around the girl. This adventure was going to inevitably end, so Adrien had to enjoy every moment spent with his new friend (they  _ had _ to be friends by now, right?). Despite moving at slow speeds compared to other motorcyclists, he felt the wind bombard his perfectly coiffed hair and Paris streets he had never seen before zoomed past his vision in streams of color. 

He had never felt more free. 

“Doing alright back there, Sunshine?”

Adrien could hear amusement in her voice. It was only then that he realized he had been laughing in joy with no restraint. Something he  _ had _ experienced before, but not in a long time. 

“Never been better, Princess.” 

...

“Thank you so much for delivering this to the station on such short notice, Marinette,” Nadja Chamack said as she gratefully accepted the box from the girl. “I would’ve gone to the bakery myself but the whole team is a nightmare preparing for the new month. Someone tipped us off to some big news that’s to come this week.” 

Marinette laughed it off, sweating from leftover adrenaline from making it on time by four seconds. “It was no trouble at all, Mrs. Chamack.” She waved the woman goodbye and walked to the front of the lobby of the TVi broadcasting building where she found her new friend reading some promotional posters, helmet still firmly on his head. 

“Hey, Sunshine,” she called to him. “Let’s head back to the bakery.”

His eyes lit up. “Can we eat croissants when we get back?”

“Croissants, cookies, macarons, whatever you’d like,” Marinette laughed. 

“I can’t wait. I’ve never had any of those before!” 

Her eyes widened in shock. “What? You’ve never had a  _ cookie _ before?” 

The boy rubbed the back of his neck bashfully, almost looking ashamed. “My diet is watched pretty closely. It’s been a long time since I’ve had sweets.” 

Marinette pursed her lips.

“We’ll have to change that.” 

Sunshine boy nodded eagerly as they walked through the automatic doors of the building and got back on the bike. Marinette drove much slower on the way back to the bakery, now that there was no rush and she took the opportunity to talk with the boy. They exchanged stories of their childhoods and before they knew it, they had reached the side of Marinette’s home. 

“And then! And then! And then he tripped down the hill and rolled all the way into the water! Alix still hasn’t let him forget it!” she told Sunshine breathlessly as she exploded in laughter all over again. She would’ve tipped her bike over as they walked it to the garage had he not been holding onto it as well. “I wish I had gotten a picture of it!” 

When his own laughter died down, Sunshine boy smiled warmly at her. “I wish I could go to school with you and all your classmates,” he said wistfully. “It sounds like fun every day.” 

“The classes can get really boring sometimes, but it’s the people there who make it worth going.” 

“You’d make it worth going,” he responded automatically. Marinette felt her cheeks redden, and he blushed in return when he looked at her a second later. “I’m not taking it back,” he added almost petulantly. 

They were silent after that as Marinette walked her bike into the garage, leaving her friend outside. When she came back out, he was nowhere to be seen.

“Sunshine?” she called out, frowning. She caught a glimpse of silver in the corner of her eye and ran towards it frantically. 

“Hey, why’d you disappear like--Mr. Chan?” 

Indeed it was the old Chinese man she had helped that very morning who held the helmet in his hands. He gazed up at her in concern and guilt. 

“I’m sorry, Marinette. It seems I’ve been a bit of a burden to more than just you today.”

“What? What are you talking about?”

Mr. Chan sighed. “I had fallen once again and was helped up by a nice young man. He took his helmet off and before I could thank him he was ushered away. He didn’t look happy about it.” 

Marinette felt the disappointment well up inside her. It seemed that Sunshine’s bodyguard finally caught him. 

“Who was that young man? I’d like to thank him properly one day.”

She realized it with a start. 

“I… I don’t know. He’s my friend, though I never got his name.” 

She gazed sadly into the distance, as if she could see the boy still being dragged away against his wishes. 

She didn’t notice the old man beside her give a knowing smile. 

...

“Adrien.” 

Said boy flinched upon hearing the cold voice. 

“Father,” he greeted quietly. 

The stoic man was standing at the top of the stairs right in front of the massive portrait of himself and Adrien, hands behind his back and eyes looking down his nose at his son. A typical stance that did nothing to reassure Adrien that this conversation would go well. His father began to speak, but Adrien quickly began to zone out, his mind and heart wanting to go back to happier times in the day. 

He wondered what his new friend was doing now. Was she looking for him? Was she angry that he had disappeared without a word? Adrien regretted not asking for her name and number when he had the chance. He’ll have to Google the address of her parents’ bakery and sneak out to visit her soon. 

“--tell me what compelled you to leave the safety of this house, without permission and protection.” 

“Mom’s birthday is in a few days. I just…couldn’t stay here any longer and I  _ was _ going to ask you, but Nathalie said the earliest I could get an appointment is in two weeks,” Adrien answered as succinctly as possible, knowing his father hated it when he muttered or rambled and wasted his time. Even before his mother’s disappearance, Gabriel Agreste wasn’t the most personable man, and the months after only made him worse. These days, Adrien figured it was best to avoid his father and limit their interactions as much as possible. It made him more miserable each passing day though, and he could feel his swift approach towards the edge of a cliff. 

There was a short silence after he finished speaking and Adrien couldn’t bring himself to look his father in the eyes. But what was there to fear? His father couldn’t do anything to make Adrien’s existence worse, as disappointment was the only punishment worth giving. 

And Gabriel knew it. 

“You will be expected to take on an additional two hours of piano practice every day this week. Outside of lessons, you are to remain in your room and think upon why you were in the wrong today.” 

With that, and not even another glance at his son, the man walked to his atelier and shut the door firmly. The Gorilla and Nathalie walked away as well, leaving Adrien alone in the foyer. 

He took out his phone and checked his schedule, expressionless. As little as they interacted, Adrien felt he was becoming more like his father day by day. 

He cracked an ironic but bitter smile at that.

*****

“This is Mr. Chan, your new Chinese tutor.” 

Adrien stood up to greet the old man, noting that he looked remarkably kinder than his last tutor. He took only a moment to wonder what had happened to the previous man. 

“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Chan.” He stuck his hand out.

The old man took it. “Likewise.” 

Nathalie nodded at the exchange in approval. “Your father would like me to inform you that Chinese lessons will be an extra hour starting today. He says Mr. Chan will be a more competent tutor for you.” 

It took everything he had not to scowl outwardly. Instead, he nodded in understanding and watched as Nathalie left his room. Turning back to the old man, he furrowed his brows. 

“You know, I feel like I’ve met you before.” 

Mr. Chan smiled. “That is because you have. You are the nice young man who helped me up the other day. Marinette and I were wondering if we would ever see you again.” 

Adrien’s jaw dropped. “Marinette?” he questioned. “You mean the girl from the Boulangerie Patisserie?” 

At Mr. Chan’s smile and nod of confirmation, Adrien whooped and pumped a fist in the air. A chuckle made him straighten back up and rub the back of his neck sheepishly. “Teacher,” he addressed the man in Mandarin, “could you deliver a message for me?” 

The man answered him in kind, “Of course.” 

...

Stepping out of her bathroom and unwrapping her towel from her hair, Marinette made her way to her desk to check for any emails from school, considering classes would start in a few days. She paused when she noticed a nondescript envelope with her name on it. When she opened it and pulled out the single piece of paper, all she saw was a string of numbers and a name with a doodle of a sun next to it. 

It took a moment to understand but when she did Marinette couldn’t keep the grin off her face. 

“Adrien, huh?”  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking of adding more one-shots or short stories to this series that focus on how all their friends and family learn of their secret identities. I first thought of making it one story so that I could create a ton of confusing situations for the characters (because it would be hilarious) but this will be easier for me to do.


	2. Marinette Dupain-Cheng and Adrien Agreste

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien has a friend now, yay! And so he continues on his quest to lead the life of a normal boy... 
> 
> Meanwhile, Marinette comes across some surprises throughout her day, some better than others.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I lied. There's actually three chapters to this thing. I really wanted to finish it by the end of this week because starting next week all my free time is gone, buuut I guess the last chapter will just take some time to finish. I guarantee it'll be out by mid-November though lol, that's when my schedule is a whole lot more open again.

“It will grant me any wish, you say?”

“Not without consequence, Master.”

“Hmph. That is of little concern to me. With the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculouses, I can have my family back, and they will never leave me again. Nothing else matters.”

Nooroo looked out the wide window of the observatory, feeling all of the happiness in the outside world that his butterflies wished to flock to. Looking sadly back to his new holder, Nooroo knew that it was going to be a while before that was going to happen.

“Of course, Master.”

*****

“I find that Mandarin is easier to learn than English.”

“I’m the complete opposite. Tonal languages are so aggravating.”

Adrien rolled over on his bed to lie on his stomach and held his phone out in front of him. “Your mom speaks Mandarin, right? Didn't she speak it while you were growing up? It must've helped you get used to tones.”

Marinette groaned and Adrien could faintly see through the screen how she flopped back in her desk chair. “I understand the basics. And I can give simple replies. I don't know. I just never got the hang of it. What about you?”

It had only been two days since Adrien got his first call from Marinette, but after video chatting with her almost nonstop since then, he felt that he’d known her his whole life. He knew that she held a passion for fashion design but liked to dabble in graphic design once in a while. She was a decent baker but loved to decorate the pastries which gave her ideas that led to designing her parents’ bakery’s logo years ago. Her favorite color was pink, and it really showed when Marinette gave Adrien a tour of her room. She dreamed of owning her own fashion line one day and hoped to meet some big name designers, including a certain Gabriel Agreste.

Adrien had cringed a bit at that. It made him reluctant to share that part of his life with his new friend, so he kept away from those topics, but he knew he’d have to reveal himself eventually. Aside from that, he did tell Marinette of some childhood stories he was particularly fond of, all of them with his mother. He was never given the chance to talk to anyone about her after the disappearance and despite what most people would have thought, he craved to talk about her with someone, anyone, who would listen.

And Marinette turned out to be a really good listener.

“I study and practice practically every day. By now I'm almost fluent in Mandarin, German, English, Spanish, Japanese, French of course, and even Morse.” He then realized how that could have been taken. “Uh, I mean. I was kind of forced to learn most of them…” He didn’t want to sound like he was bragging.

Surprisingly, Marinette just squinted at him and focused on something else. “Japanese… Not many people in France choose to learn Japanese of all languages, and when they do, it’s usually for one reason… Don't tell me you're a weeb.”

Adrien sat upright and put a hand to his chest in mock offense, keeping his phone held out so she could see. “I consider myself ‘well educated,’ excuse you.”

The girl was silent for a moment before she said quiet and serious, “Your otaku level is over 9000.”

Adrien snorted quite loudly before he dropped the phone and threw his hands over his mouth and nose.

“Do you enjoy ninjas? Pirates? Sports anime?” She gasped. “Maybe magical girl anime?”

Adrien crossed his arms. “I’ll have you know Sailor Moon is a childhood classic.”

“Aha! I knew it! Tell me, do you also have your own magical transformation sequence all planned out in your head? With poses and all?”

Adrien picked his phone back up and winked. “You bet, Princess.”

His friend giggled back.

(And get this: Marinette was an even better friend.)

…

Marinette yawned, making a half-hearted effort to cover her mouth. It was 1 a.m., only a few hours before she had to wake up for school.

“Maybe we should both call it a night. I have something scheduled super early in the morning and you have school.”

She pouted at Adrien, whose face filled her computer screen. She held up a length of fabric.

“I want to finish cutting out the pattern.”

Adrien rolled his eyes. “I’m holding onto my patience by a _thread_. Go to sleep.”

Marinette failed to hide her grin at the pun and set her things aside. “Fine. I just wanted to talk to you a little longer. Classes last all day and I don’t want you to be alone for so long.”

Adrien’s expression softened and he gave her the gentlest smile. “Thanks, Princess. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve managed for years without friends. I can handle a few hours.”

“That just sounds sad.”

Adrien shrugged.

“Well,” Marinette relented, “if you’re sure. Good night, Adrien.”

“Good night, Marinette.”

Marinette was surprised when she woke up hours later with enough time to sit down for breakfast.

“Good morning, dear,” her mother greeted her. “Did you sleep well?”

“Surprisingly enough, I did. I went to bed a little late though and I have no idea how I got up on time.”

Sabine gave a knowing smile. “Were you up talking to Adrien again?” she asked teasingly.

Marinette blushed at the insinuating tone. “Maybe,” she mumbled past her food.

“It was certainly nice meeting him, but I hope we get to talk in person one day, not just through a video call. I won’t tell his parents how to raise him, but they really need to let that boy out more. Let him make some friends and have fun.”

Marinette couldn’t agree more, but she wasn’t about to start a whole conversation about it. Adrien’s family life was his, even if he had trusted Marinette enough to share a bit.

After finishing her food, she kissed her parents goodbye and made her way to school half an hour early with a box of macarons. Unfortunately for her, a certain blonde menace decided to do the same that day while holding a latte in one hand and her phone in the other, relying only on her -lackey- friend to keep her from walking into anything. Which was a task that Sabrina wholly failed at when Chloe walked straight into Marinette, causing her drink to spill all over the two of them.

The two girls shrieked, one in surprise and the other in outrage.

“Sabrina! You had _one_ job!”

“Jeez, it wasn’t her fault, Chloe,” Marinette muttered as she flicked drops of espresso from her arms. “No need to be a bit…” Her grumbles trailed off quietly.

“Excuse me, _what_ were you saying?” the other girl demanded. She shook her head. “Whatever. I don’t have time to talk to the likes of you. Sabrina!”

Said girl stood to attention. “Yes, Chloe?”

“I need a new change of clothes from the hotel, pronto! After all, I have to look my best for when our very important person arrives. The both of you should be thankful that my hair survived.”

Pausing in her attempt to wipe her jacket down with her hand, Marinette questioned, “Important person?”

While Sabrina took off down the street towards the Grand Paris Hotel, Chloe tilted her chin up and answered smugly, “Yes. A childhood friend of mine is going to be attending Françoise Dupont and he’s quite famous. You might have heard of him even while living under your rock at the bakery, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. His name is Adrien Agreste and he’s becoming one of Paris’s most famous young models.”

Chloe continued to rant about her celebrity friend but Marinette was no longer listening. Despite what the other girl thought, Marinette did have an idea of who Adrien Agreste was. After all, who in Paris wouldn’t? He was the son of Gabriel Agreste, arguably the top fashion designer in Europe. However, that was the extent of Marinette’s knowledge about the boy. He was one of those celebrities whose name you hear in passing but never bothered to Google. Even if he was directly related to Gabriel Agreste, Marinette was more interested in the man’s designs than his personal affairs.

Marinette frowned. Then again, Adrien Agreste…Adrien…

She gasped.

“Exactly!” Chloe exclaimed, throwing her hands up. “He is _that_ big of a deal so you better watch yourself—”

“Do you have a picture of him?” Marinette interrupted.

Chloe pursed her lips. “Of course I do,” she huffed in annoyance, yet swiped through some images on her phone before stopping on one and showing Marinette.

There he was.

The boy Marinette had been video chatting and making friends with for the past several days was here on Chloe’s screen, dressed in a formal outfit that was 100% designed by Gabriel Agreste and posing in the most flattering way. This was a _big_ part of Adrien’s life that he neglected to tell her. Not that it was any of her business knowing about it…and it was partially her fault for totally not recognizing him…

 _God,_ did she feel like an idiot.

Marinette looked back at Chloe. “And you’re saying _you’re_ friends with him?”

The other girl’s haughty smirk was enough of an answer. Marinette handed the phone back. “I’m very disinclined to believe you.”

Chloe’s face twisted into a sneer. “And why’s that, Mari-trash?”

“Adrien is a boy with a heart of gold. Hard to imagine he’d get along with a person with your selfish attitude.”

Marinette half-expected the mocking laughter. “Puh-lease. How would you know what Adrikins is like? I bet you’re one of his stalker fans who think he’s their soulmate just because they know what his favorite color is. Well news flash, he’s of a social caliber you’ll never be able to reach so I’ll be nice and give you some advice. Don’t try to cozy up to him when he arrives or you’ll just end up embarrassing yourself.”

With that, Chloe turned on her heel sharply and snapped her fingers for Sabrina, who came back with a change of clothes just in time.

Together they walked away, leaving Marinette behind with a thoughtful look on her face.

…

Placing the strap of his bag over his shoulder, Adrien deemed himself ready. He checked his phone to make sure he had no other engagements for a few more hours before he snuck out his bedroom door, straining his ears for Nathalie’s footsteps.

Pressing himself against the walls, he would peer around the corners and banisters of the manor, ducking back whenever Nathalie or a servant walked by. He felt like a top secret spy about to overthrow a crime lord with his badass skills and unrivalled intelligence. He even did a little somersault across the foyer and out the front doors before smoothly rolling up to his feet and sprinting out the gates.

Minutes later, after a light jog, Adrien stood at the bottom of the stairs that led to the next _step_ of his life. Looking around, he noticed there were few students left outside who were already making their way through the doors of the school. Glancing surreptitiously behind him just in case, he felt his heart speed up at the sight of a very familiar car zooming down the street towards him. Totally not yelping in panic, Adrien hightailed it off the sidewalk and only when he slammed the doors of the school shut did he breath a sigh of relief.

“Uh…”

Adrien looked up and froze.

Dozens of faces around the school’s courtyard stared back. Adrien just stayed still, not sure what to do. What was a normal person expected to do in this situation? Quick, did one of his Netflix or anime shows have the answer?! Reaching up to rub the back of his neck, he offered a wave and a timid, “Hi?”

Some students waved back in confusion while others began to lose interest in him, perhaps not that excited at the prospect of a new student. (Well, it made sense. It was the beginning of the school year after all.) Adrien relaxed a bit more once he realized that he wasn’t bringing the wrong kind of attention to himself. Perhaps he’ll manage to make a few friends with all these people he hadn’t scared off.

“ _Adrikins!!!_ ”

Aaand he thought too soon.

“Hey, Chlo—urk!” He was cut off by the choking arms around him. Thankfully, Chloe released him the next second and settled for holding his arm. Unfortunately, it was for this:

She spun around and faced all the students in the yard. “Listen up, peasants!”

Oh god, please no, Chloe, don’t—!

“This here is Adrien Agreste, son of Gabriel Agreste the fashion designer, for those of you who are too oblivious to notice.”

“Um, Chloe, maybe you shouldn’t—”

“It’s clear that he is of high class and only those in the elite circles are worthy of speaking to him, namely me.”

“Wait, no, that’s not—”

“His net worth may only be $10 million right now as he’s just started his modeling career but I know it’ll _at least_ become a staggering $250 million by the time he’s an adult actor.”

“Hey! I’m more than just—!”

It was with growing dread that Adrien watched the mostly neutral faces around him morph into expressions of disgust, scorn, and worst of all—unwarranted adoration. It was obvious even to him that a number of students had begun to recognize him for his celebrity status. But why?! This was a school for famous kids or those who had famous relatives and connections. So why did he have to be such a big deal?

Adrien could feel his shoulders begin to slump as reality started to sink in. He was going to have to fight hard for genuine friendships, it seemed. If only his wonderful friend Marinette could appear out of thin air and make everything better like she always did (at least for the few days he’s known her).

“Hi, Adrien.”

He groaned and buried his face in his hands. His own mind was taunting him with what he most desired at that moment.

“Okay then, nice to see you too,” came illusion-Marinette’s sarcastic response.

“Um, what did I tell you earlier, Mari-trash? Scram! You’re existence is hurting my Adrikins!”

“Listen, Chloe. Even if he doesn’t want to see me right now, I don’t think he wants to see you either.”

“How _dare_ you!”

Huh. It’s rare when his mind creates people who actually talk back to Chloe.

Lowering his hands slightly, Adrien peeked over his fingers. He gasped.

“Marinette! You’re actually here!” He couldn’t keep the delighted grin off his face even if he wanted to.

Marinette stopped arguing with Chloe and turned to him with a smile. “I think _I_ should be the surprised one. What are you doing at Françoise Dupont?”

Before Adrien could answer, Marinette was shoved aside, causing her to tumble to the ground.

“Adrikins! You don’t mean to tell me you actually know the bland baker’s daughter?”

Kneeling down to help Marinette up, Adrien frowned at his childhood friend. “She’s not bland, Chloe. If anything, Marinette is amazing. She’s a great friend. Something I thought you were, until today that is.”

Chloe’s jaw dropped. “W-what are you talking about? Everyone adores me, including you! After all, you had no other friends.”

Adrien sighed. He did a lot of reevaluating his life ever since meeting Marinette, particularly what real friendship and family was like. He discovered that his knowledge was quite…lacking. Not to say that Chloe wasn’t really his friend. She definitely was! But how true of a friend, was the real question. Needless to say, Adrien didn’t want to lose an awesome new friend because he was defending the wrongful words of another.

“It’s true you were my only for a long time. But aren’t you happy for me? I’m finally making friends on my own!” It made Adrien proud to see Chloe speechless at that. It meant that she wasn’t going to disregard his happiness, even if she did end up turning her head and strutting away.

“Huh. You hold some strange power, Sunshine. Never seen her give up so easily.”

He turned to the girl beside him. “It’s just a little solar energy to brighten up everyone’s day.”

It took Marinette a moment before she rolled her eyes and guided him to the locker area. Taking a look at the papers he received upon enrollment to the school, she helped him find his locker (which, sadly, was a distance away from hers) and advised him on what was best to bring to class and what to leave behind. The two were ecstatic to find that their classroom assignments were the same and they jovially made their way up the stairs to class, sharing Marinette’s macarons all the while.

On the way, Adrien was pleased to note that the intense reception he had earlier from the other students had mellowed out considerably (though a few girls still did approach him for autographs, which he didn’t mind giving out for once). He was sure he had his Princess to thank for that.

Upon entering the classroom, Marinette was greeted by a few waves to which she responded in kind. One or two girls verbally said hello. Adrien was a bit surprised. From the stories she told, he thought she was a lot closer to her classmates than that. Perhaps these were different students and the ones from the stories were placed in different classes.

Adrien followed closely as Marinette approached a red-capped boy sitting close to the door.

“Hey Nino, I didn’t expect you to be all the way up front,” she commented.

“Oh, hey Marinette. Yeah, Madame Bustier wanted to change things up, I guess. I _was_ sitting in the very back at first,” he responded, his voice quite deep for a boy of their age.

After watching Marinette interact with the boy, Nino, Adrien felt empowered to do so as well. “Isn’t it harder to pay attention when you’re so far away?”

At their odd looks, Adrien flushed slightly. “I mean,” he mumbled, “that’s what I’ve heard.”

Marinette came to his rescue once again. She rested an elbow on Adrien’s shoulder. “Adrien here has been homeschooled his whole life. He’s super smart academically, but needs a little tutoring on the social side, if you get my drift.”

Nino’s face lit up in understanding and he held a fist out to Adrien. “No worries, dude. I’m willing to help out a bro any day. What kinda stuff are you into?”

“Stuff? Into?” Was Nino talking about hobbies? It sounded like he was talking about hobbies. But he just dove right into it that Adrien wasn’t entirely sure. He looked towards Marinette. She just nodded.

“Yeah, your interests.”

“Oh! Well, being homeschooled, I also have a lot of time by myself. I usually watch TV, play some video games, read a few books.”

Nino kept the conversation going while Adrien and Marinette sat in the seats directly behind him. At one point, one of them brought up comic books and superheroes.

“Did someone say superheroes?”

The three of them looked up to see a girl with reddish brown ombre hair waving a comic book before them. “Do any of you know of Majestia?”

And thus, Adrien Agreste began his first day of school with a total of three ( _three!_ ) new friends consisting of Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Nino Lahiffe and Alya Césaire.

Not to say it was indicative of how the day ended however.

*****

“You know, thinking back on your stories, Kim never really sounded like the bully type,” Adrien said into his phone on the ride home. He honestly hadn’t been surprised when he found the Gorilla impatiently waiting with the car in front of the steps of the school. He didn’t want to think about the lecture he was going to get once he arrived home, so he had immediately called Marinette to talk about something that had happened right before he left.

“He really isn’t…usually.” He heard a sigh. “Kim can just be really, eh, what’s a good word…insensitive sometimes. Other times he’s just annoying what with all the dares he comes up with. By this point I think he’ll have realized how hurtful he was to Ivan and is on his way to apologize. And if not, Max is also there to let him know!”

“I think it was also cool how you went after Ivan.”

“I don’t know how much good I did. I tried to encourage him—he’s trying to confess to Mylene through a song he wrote! I only hope it went well.”

Adrien agreed. He thought love was such a beautiful thing, and everyone deserved to be loved. Speaking of…

“Hey, I’m going to have to go now. I just got home.”

“Okay. Good luck, Adrien. Bye.”

He took a deep breath. “Yeah, thanks. Bye.” Pocketing his phone, Adrien grabbed his things from the car and walked inside the manor. His head was down to physically brace himself for the scolding that was no doubt going to happen. But the longer he stood in the foyer in the silence, the more he realized he was actually alone.

“Huh? Uh, Father? Are you there?” he felt a little silly calling out.

“Adrien.”

Turning, Adrien saw Nathalie walking towards him, just as a quaking that shook the building occurred.

“Wha—? What was that?! An earthquake?”

Nathalie stopped before him. “Your father advises that you head to your room and stay there. There’s a monster roaming Paris so he’ll wait until things are calm again to speak with you about today.”

Adrien just stared at his father’s assistant.

Nathalie stared back the way she always did.

“What???”

“I said that you are to remain in your room—”

“Well, yeah, I got that part. But _what was that_ about a _monster in Paris_? You and Father don’t ever joke, but c’mon.”

The woman didn’t bother to elaborate. Maybe she was still salty about Adrien giving her the slip twice in that week. Adrien took it as a sign to just do what she said.

As soon as he got to his room, he turned on the TV to the news channel and sure enough, there was a rock monster-golem-thing rampaging the streets.

…

“What _is_ that thing?” Marinette whispered to herself. Sitting in her desk chair and staring at the images on her computer screen, she almost could have convinced herself she watching one of those anime series Adrien had recommended. But no, this was real life and she could even hear the panicked screaming from her own windows.

Lowering her eyes for a moment during a particularly violent bout between the rock creature and the police, a small black box caught her attention.

“What is _that_ thing?”

…

And we all know how the story goes from this point on, right?

… _Well_ …  

Perhaps not.

  


**_Next time…_ **

_“You’ve both broken the very first rule we established. A sign, perhaps, that neither of you are worthy of the powers you have been given.”_

_…_

_“You_ dared _to disobey me.”_

_…_

_“Are they heroes? Or are they vigilantes?”_

_…_

_“They say ignorance is bliss. Well, no matter what happens now, we’re no longer ignorant. I can’t stand by doing nothing. Are you with me?”_

_“Always.”_

 


	3. Ladybug and Chat Noir

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter of the origin story of this little AU.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took literal months to write out, oh my lord. I didn't do much proofreading so if there's any grammatical or spelling mistakes, please ignore. I'll fix them eventually. 
> 
> Anyway, please enjoy the end to this terrible self-indulgent story.

“What are you? Some kind of mouse-bug?!” 

“I’m a kwami, the Ladybug kwami.” 

“Well,  _ okay _ , yes, you’re a kwami, but what’s a kwami? Why do you talk?” 

“There are many words that we are called in various languages. The closest equivalent I can give you is that kwamis are the manifestation of an abstract idea. I am Tikki, the kwami of creation and good luck!” 

“You just went from 0 to 100 but that’s okay because I do that too.” Marinette peered at the…kwami trapped in her glass cup. “Um…why are you here?” she asked a bit bluntly and winced, hoping she didn’t offend this…being. 

Tikki kept up her cheery demeanor which relieved Marinette, until she spoke. “I’m here to give you the power to fight akumas, like the one outside right now!” 

“What?!” Marinette shrieked. “I’m—”

… 

“—so ready to do this!” Adrien exclaimed to Plagg, an apparent kwami of destruction and bad luck. “How do I start?” 

“Huh.” Plagg floated up to the boy and flew a circle around him. “You’re a lot more eager than most. Shame.” 

Adrien faltered. “That’s a bad thing?” 

Slowly flipping himself upside down, Plagg nodded. “Yeah. It means you actually  _ want _ to do work.” 

With a look of understanding, Adrien only hesitated for a second before he resumed his eager stance. “Well let’s go! Man, I can finally try out that magical transformation sequence for real. The look on Marinette’s face will be priceless!”

“Hold on! Time out!” Plagg crossed his little arms into an X. “Two things. One: I need sustenance because I am what powers your transformation. Camembert will do. Five pounds of it.”

“That’s…doable. What’s the second thing?” 

Plagg shrugged indifferently. “Well this is more Tikki’s thing. She would tell you that you shouldn’t reveal your real identity to anyone. For reasons I forget.” 

Slumping a little, Adrien pouted. “Oh. I guess it makes sense. Majestia does it, Spiderman does it. It’s—” 

… 

“—not something Iron Man needs to do,” Marinette muttered to herself, “but I guess it’s because he’s filthy rich and influential enough to get away with it.”

Tikki heard her anyway. “I’m serious, Marinette. This rule is set in place to keep you safe.” Her tone softened. “Who knows? Circumstances change and you were chosen for this role, so I’ll trust your judgment. But for now, do. Not. Reveal. Yourself.” 

Marinette gave a small smile. “That’s reassuring. Thanks. It’s just, you mentioned a kwami named Plagg is out there right now, so that means I’ll have a partner, right? I don’t know who they are yet, but I want to be able to trust them.” She turned to her computer screen where the live newscast was still following the monster ( _ akuma _ , Tikki reminded her). “Especially if I have to fight things like that from now on.” 

Tikki floated in front of her face to block her view of the akuma. “Just start by trusting me.” 

Biting her lip, Marinette nodded. “Okay. So…how do I transform?” 

At this, Tikki beamed. 

… 

“Tikki, spots on!” 

… 

“Plagg, claws out!” 

***** 

Adrien never thought about adding parkour to his routine, considering his already packed schedule. But doing parkour like  _ this _ ? Yes, please! 

He couldn’t contain the whoops and shouts of delight every time he catapulted himself up with his infinitely extending baton, allowing him to fly over the rooftops of his beloved city. At one point he stuck his baton out from the edge of a roof and walked along it, testing his newfound catlike balance. He stopped when he felt his magically artificial ears twitch a little on his head, at the same time hearing a faint yell grow louder from above. 

He looked up just in time for a figure in red to crash into him. Some kind of string wrapped around him and the stranger, leaving them swinging upside down over the street. 

“Ugh,” came the red stranger. 

“Thanks for dropping in,” Adrien replied. Taking a closer look (but really, how much closer could he get, tied up to the other person like this), he realized that it was a girl who seemed to be his age that was squirming in place. He was going to ask what she was doing before they suddenly dropped to the ground, Adrien unfortunately landing on his head. 

“Sorry! Sorry! I’m a bit clumsy. First time superhero-ing and all that!” 

Rubbing his head, Adrien replied, “No problem. I’m new at this too.” 

Pulling on her string, which Adrien finally noticed was a…yo-yo…the girl managed to dislodge his baton from the roof and it promptly shrunk to its normal size for him to catch. However it also untangled the yo-yo which ended up landing on his head. “Ouch!” 

“Sorry! I’m so sorry.”

“No worries. Even if that killed me I’d still have eight more lives.” Readying his baton, Adrien prepared to jump back onto the roof. 

“What should I call you?” the girl asked before he could leap away. He turned and looked into her eyes, which burned with curiosity and a strange determination. 

Adrien paused for a moment, taking in everything that had happened to him that very day. His life had been changed so drastically in so little time,  and in his opinion most of it was for the better. And it was in great part thanks to the risky choices he’s made. With this realization, he knew what he wanted to do, which may or may not cause a mess later, but he was prepared for the consequences.

“To Paris, I’m Chat Noir. But you, partner, can call me Adrien.”

The girl inhaled sharply and Adrien—Chat Noir could only guess that she had gotten the same secret identity talk from her own kwami and was shocked that he disregarded it. He didn’t stay to hear her response though, as he heard crashes nearby. 

With a two-finger salute and a grin, he shouted, “Let’s get to work, Clumsy Girl!” before vaulting away. 

… 

Zipping ( _ carefully _ ) around the buildings to catch up with her partner, Marinette’s mind reeled. 

What were the chances that  _ this _ Adrien was also her friend  _ Adrien _ ? Was “Adrien” actually a common name in Paris? 

She was brought out of her thoughts when her legs hit a lamp post and she was flung onto a nondescript rooftop. This was not the time to be distracted. 

Getting up, she saw the akuma had made its way to the Parc des Princes soccer stadium, followed by Alya who took a more normal path inside. Knowing her for less than a day and Marinette already knew that this girl was going to have a knack for literally running into trouble.

Marinette then spotted Adrien—no, just think of him as Chat Noir for now—on the wall of the stadium and swung her way over. 

“I’m sure you saw the news,” he said as soon as she landed beside him. “Attacking the akuma only makes him bigger and stronger. Typical ability you often see in basic shounen anime.” 

Fan of anime? Another strike against him already. She ignored it for the time being. 

“Their entire body is rock so I can’t see anything that could be the possessed object.” She pointed at the akuma’s hands. “But that fist has been closed the entire time. Maybe the object is in there?” 

“Make them open their fist! Got it!”

Marinette shouted in surprise when Chat took a running leap and  _ charged the akuma _ with a battle cry. 

“Wait! We need a…plan,” she ended with a sigh when the cat boy held his own ground for a short time before he was easily swatted away by the golem. At least he had the gusto to keep on getting up. 

Marinette met him at the end of the field under the goal post. “You really don’t think before you do—or say—things, do you?” she said exasperatedly. 

“Ironically enough, it’s only recently that I started to think for myself.” 

Marinette quirked an eyebrow at that, but didn’t ask about it further. There were more pressing matters to attend to. Looking over her partner’s shoulder, she saw an attack coming. “Look out!” 

She slammed into Chat and sent them rolling from the other goal post that had been ripped from the other side of the field and tossed at them by the akuma. The two ended up rolling quite a distance until being stopped by the field barrier. Whoa, she really underestimated her strength. 

“Did your kwami tell you about your special power?” 

“Um, he told me the name of it. He’s the kwami of destruction, so it probably destroys stuff?” 

Not believing his false certainty in the least, Marinette deadpanned at him. “You don’t  _ know _ ?” 

“Look, I’ll call on it and test it out. No biggie!” 

“Um, yes biggie! You only have five minutes after you call on your power before you transform back!” 

“Well what’s your power then?” 

“I can summon a random item that will help me out of whatever situation I’m in.” 

“ _ ROAR! _ ” 

Marinette and Chat leaped away from each other to dodge the lumbering swipes of the akuma. 

“Don’t get caught by them!” Marinette shouted. 

Chat nodded as he flipped away, unintentionally goading the akuma and giving Marinette time to use her power. “Lucky Charm!” 

She eagerly caught the red and black spotted object in her hands, hoping it would be the answer to this fight. Her smile dropped when she realized what it was. “A…wetsuit???” 

Chat expressed his doubt over her the effectiveness of the superpower, but with the help of her partner and Alya she proved just how useful it was within the next few minutes. 

“We did it?” Ladybug breathed. 

“We sure did!” Chat exclaimed. “Pound it, partner!” 

Marinette only stared at the offered fist for a second before she smiled and tapped her own fist against his. 

“Pound it.” 

…

The heroes left after giving Alya their chosen aliases while running off, knowing they only had minutes before transforming back. 

Marinette, or Ladybug as she called herself, made sure to keep Chat within her sights. 

“Hey! We need to talk. Quickly, before we change back.” 

Landing on a discreet rooftop garden that blocked them from being seen by anyone below, he turned around curiously. 

“What about?” 

“You know exactly what! You gave me your real name!” 

He had the preservation to look slightly sheepish. “I mean, can you really figure out who I am with just a name?” 

“You’re Adrien Agreste,” Ladybug deadpanned. 

Chat started to say something, holding a finger up to contest her point, but seemed to realize that nothing he said could make his case better. 

“And even if I didn’t already know you,” she continued, “you’re a famous figure, practically a celebrity! In France, the first image to pop up in someone’s mind when they hear the name Adrien is most likely going to be your face.” 

Chat pouted and mumbled, “I mean, if you have a friend named Adrien…” 

Ladybug exploded. “How many people could possibly have a friend named Adrien!?” 

At Chat’s startled look, she took a deep breath and spoke more calmly. “Bottom line is, it only took me half an hour to figure you out after I was given just your first name, as common as you think it may be.”

“Wait, you said you already knew me. Do you mean you personally know me and that’s how you found out my identity? You have to really know me and my mannerisms then. Are you Nathalie?!” 

She was not impressed. Crossing her arms and jutting her hip out, she answered, “No. I am not Nathalie,  _ Chat _ .” 

By then Ladybug knew she had screwed up past the point of no return, so she said nothing as Chat scrutinized her while their Miraculous beeped in warning for the third time. They had two minutes left before their transformations but it no longer mattered as she watched something change in her partner’s expression. She tensed in anticipation when it seemed he was ready to speak again. 

“Chloe?” 

She facepalmed. 

“No!” 

“…Mom?” 

“You—!” Ladybug cut herself off when she saw Chat trying to hide a grin. “Oh, hah hah. Did you actually figure it out now or are we going to keep playing this game?” 

“Mrs. Cheng?” 

“Oh my god, stop!” 

By now Chat was full on snickering and even Ladybug couldn’t keep a smile from her face. 

Their Miraculous beeped again while Chat calmed himself down. He straightened up and gave her the happiest smile. 

“Hi, Marinette.” 

… 

The two new heroes decided to head over to Marinette’s home, as it was closer and was instantly deemed a safer space than Adrien’s. 

They managed to land on her balcony just in time for the fifth warning of their Miraculous before they finally transformed. Immediately they were met with laughter from a floating black blob revealed to be a cat kwami. 

“The quickest reveal to date! Jeez kid, it’s gonna be a blast with you as my new holder!” 

A red kwami slowly floated up beside the other, clearly not as enthused. 

“This is no laughing matter, Plagg.” 

Plagg ignored her and continued to howl with laughter to himself. Tikki proceeded to ignore him back and turned to their holders. 

“Marinette.” 

Said girl stiffened, worry filling her. 

“Y-yes, Tikki?” 

Oh, great. Her voice hadn’t been so shaky in years. 

“Before I bestowed upon you a great responsibility, I gave you one solid rule to follow.” 

Jerkily nodding her head, Marinette mumbled an affirmative. 

“Tell me, what was the rule?”

“Do not reveal my identity or the existence of kwami to anyone.” 

Tikki crossed her arms. “And what did you do?” 

Hanging her head in shame, Marinette answered. 

“Reveal my identity and your existence to someone.” 

Adrien finally spoke up. 

“But she didn’t reveal it to just anyone. I’m her partner!” 

“A title does not make a person,” Tikki replied. “Are you saying Marinette should trust someone she just met purely because he says she should?” 

“Of course not! That’s why I took the risk to reveal myself but I wasn’t going to make her do the same.” 

“Which brings me to my next point.” Tikki turned to Marinette. “It wasn’t a complete accident that Chat Noir figured out who you are. As soon as you knew who he was, you let your guard down and guided him to the answer.” She floated closer, stopping right in front of Marinette’s face. “I now face one of two issues. You either trust too easily…or I made the mistake of trusting you.” 

Marinette paled. To be so quickly mistrusted hurt her in a place she didn’t know was possible. It was worse that she couldn’t dispute Tikki’s words, because it was all true. The knowledge that her quickly becoming best friend Adrien was her partner in a suddenly strange new world gave her the feeling of comfort and safety. 

“You’ve both broken the very first rule we established. A sign, perhaps, that neither of you are worthy of the powers you have been given.”

Marinette and Adrien looked at each other in slight shame and horror. It was that bad? 

“Well to be fair, I never told the kid it was a concrete rule.” 

“Plagg!” 

“Listen, Sugarcube,” Plagg drawled, “no matter how you feel about it, we’re stuck with these kids for now. They’re not sticklers for rules like you, but I think it’s about time we got some holders that caused chaos. It’s almost as good as cheese!” 

Out of the corner of her eye, Marinette saw Adrien wince a little. 

“What’s wrong?” she whispered, keeping her gaze on the bickering kwamis. 

Adrien did the same. “Plagg likes cheese, Camembert to be specific. He asked for a lot of it but it shouldn’t get too bad. I can handle it.” 

Marinette was quiet for a moment. 

“You hate Camembert, don’t you?” 

“It’s the worst smell in the world.” 

Marinette tried to hide a smile as the kwamis turned back to them. 

“I guess Plagg is right,” Tikki sighed. “You were chosen as Ladybug and Chat Noir for a reason and I can’t judge you this early on. But I am skeptical based on what I’ve seen so far.” 

“So…” Adrien started, “we’re keeping the Miraculous?” 

Tikki frowned. “We’ll see.” 

… 

Against his better judgment, Adrien accepted Marinette’s offer to join her family for dinner. He figured his father was already going to be furious with him sneaking to school that day, so why not go all out? He did make sure to text Nathalie from Marinette’s phone though so they wouldn’t go into a panic. After all, he left his phone in his room since that morning knowing there was probably a tracker in it. 

After experiencing the warmest dinner ever, Adrien felt like he was on a cloud as he wandered back to the mansion. When the gates came in sight however, his mood sombered quickly. 

“What’s with the tension?” 

Adrien jumped, having forgotten his new companion. He gave Plagg a grimace. “Prepare to meet, or I guess not-meet, my father.” 

“Ah, he’s one of  _ those _ types.” 

“He’s not that bad. Just, he could be better.” 

Plagg scoffed. “I’ll be the judge of that.” 

When Adrien entered through the front doors, Plagg’s presence gave him enough confidence to keep his head up. This time his father was there, standing at the midpoint of the staircase, hands clasped properly behind him and his face unreadable. Adrien could guess how he was feeling though. 

Gabriel Agreste waited silently for Adrien to speak up. Because that was the pattern. Adrien always gave some piteous line that he wouldn’t even get to finish before being shut down by his father. 

Realizing this, Adrien felt a spark of annoyance. It hadn’t quite been a full year since his mother disappeared, but honestly his father had always been strict and stubborn. The disappearance had just exacerbated it. 

But what could Adrien do? He wasn’t blessed with a patient and understanding father the way Marinette was. All he could do was repeat the cycle. That way, he could prepare for the disappointment. 

“Father, I—“

“I could understand when you found loopholes in the past to get your way. But this time you  _ dared _ to outright disobey me. At the cost of your own safety, no less.” 

Wow. Barely gave Adrien the chance to talk this time. His father was  _ furious. _

“Sneaking out of the house to attend a,” he scoffed, “ _ public school  _ of all things. And then sneaking out again in the midst of an attack on Paris. And the  _ gall _ you had to stay out long after the issue was resolved. It seems you have no self-preservation whatsoever.” 

Adrien couldn’t help himself. 

“So, what, are you sending me to boarding school now?” It came across as sarcastic, but as soon as he said it Adrien was struck with fear that his father would seriously consider it. To his relief, his father was a special type of overprotective. 

“Don’t be ridiculous. The farther away you are, the harder it will be to keep an eye on you. Boarding schools are a breeding ground for all sorts of trouble and terrible influences. You will remain here and you will continue to do your studies within the safety of the manor. As punishment I will have Nathalie add extra piano lessons to your week. Last I heard, you were not up to the level you should be. All the while your bodyguard will remain outside your room to ensure you don’t try and leave without permission again.” 

Without giving Adrien a chance to respond, he walked down the stairs and straight into the office, slamming the doors shut. 

Nathalie turned to Adrien and told him his first new alloyed piano time was scheduled for right then and gestured for his bodyguard to escort him to his room. All the while, Adrien silently followed their orders, knowing there was no fighting it. 

Each passing day fortified Adrien’s belief that his father didn’t really care for him. The man had to keep control of everything around him though, preventing Adrien from living his own life away from the cold and businesslike routine. 

“Wow. What a stuffy old prick. It’s like he’s never enjoyed the pleasures of cheese and life before.” 

As soon as Adrien’s bedroom door shut, Plagg floated out of the boy’s bag and flew lazy circles in the air. 

“Careful, Plagg,” Adrien said with little gusto, “that’s my father you’re talking about.” 

“Heh, you sure about that?” 

Adrien grimaced, knowing he couldn’t really say otherwise. Instead, he flopped onto his bed and stared at his ceiling. 

“I wish we were back at Marinette’s,” he sighed. “There, I had people who cared about my day and I could laugh like crazy without being scolded for not acting proper. I could talk about my wants without being told how stupid or immature I am. And, they hugged me goodbye!” 

“Not to mention the food.” Plagg landed right on Adrien’s face, seeming to show little care for the boy’s woes. “By the way, has the cheese arrived yet?” 

Adrien glared cross-eyed at the kwami sitting on his nose. 

Plagg didn’t seem to be as warm and comforting as Marinette and her parents but…at least he seemed to be on Adrien’s side. 

And right now, that was all Adrien could really ask for. 

*****

Early the next morning found hundreds of citizens across Paris petrified into stone golems. 

“Tikki,” Marinette gasped, staring horrified at the newscast on her computer screen, I thought we defeated the akuma. Are they supposed to come back the next day like that?” 

Tikki looked at her worriedly. “Did you purify the akuma?” 

Marinette opened her mouth to respond before realizing that, no, she did  _ not _ do any sort of  _ purifying _ yesterday. 

She began to laugh humorlessly. 

“Marinette?” 

Shaking her head and laughing a bit hysterically, Marinette looked desperately at the kwami. “You were right. To wonder if you could trust me with this. Because, right now, I don’t trust myself. Just look at the mess I made!” She threw an arm out to gesture at the news. “I screwed up so bad and now Paris is suffering for it!” She ended in a harsh whisper, tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. 

“Oh, no, Marinette. Regardless of how you handled your secret identity, you were still chosen for a reason,” Tikki softly tried to reassured her. 

“I don’t know how the choosing process works, but it was wrong. I can’t just believe that I won’t mess things up again if I try to fix this.” 

Tikki seemed to argue further but was interrupted by a loud thump from Marinette’s balcony. 

Marinette squeaked in surprise, falling off her chair and hiding behind it. It remained silent for a few moments during which both girl and kwami held their breaths, waiting in anticipation. 

Seconds later, a soft tap sounded from the hatch above her bed followed by a muffled, “Marinette?” 

“Adrien?” she gasped. She quickly climbed up and threw the hatch open, nearly smacking her suited up friend in the face. 

As soon as she appeared, the boy sighed in relief and threw his arms around her. “You’re okay.” 

Marinette reciprocated the hug and realized that with all the petrified people, there was that chance it could have happened to Adrien as well. “And you’re alright, too,” she mumbled back, glad she hadn’t had the chance to worry. 

Adrien, or Chat, as he was at the moment, pulled back from the embrace, leaving his hands on her shoulders. “We’ve got to figure out how to fix this.” 

And with that, Marinette sighed and climbed back down into her room. Chat tilted his head and curiously followed. 

“Is something the matter?” 

Marinette sighed again and flopped onto her chair, causing it to spin a few times. “Chat Noir…” 

He raised an eyebrow. 

“You make a great hero.” 

Chat grinned and his magic ears perked up. “Thanks! You do too!” 

“That’s the thing…I don’t.” 

“What are you talking about? Did you see yourself yesterday? You were amazing!” 

“Amazing at screwing up, you mean. Look what happened because of my mistake!” 

“Hey.” Chat crouched in front of his friend and crossed his arms on her lap. “People make mistakes. We’ll just fix it.” 

“He’s right, Marinette. You became Ladybug for the first time yesterday. No one can blame you for a small mishap.” 

“See? Tikki, our great and wise goddess of all things good, agrees with me.” 

Tikki giggled before saying more seriously, “I’m still not happy about the identity thing.” 

“Well, I tried.” 

While the two bantered, Marinette bit her lip and ignored them, more focused on what she was about to do next. She shook her head and looked down, not wanting her kwami’s and friend’s expressions to make her waver. 

“Still, I bet it’s early enough to choose someone else to take this job, someone much more qualified.” With that, she quickly took her earrings off before anyone could stop her. 

“Wha—Tikki?” 

Chat’s confused voice caused Marinette to look up. Tikki was gone, as if she never existed. 

“Marinette, what are you doing?” Chat asked softly. “Are you, are you giving this up?” He pulled away a bit to fully look at her. 

“I don’t know if I can be Ladybug. You should have a partner who has the confidence that you do, someone you can really rely on.” 

“Are you kidding me?” Chat asked in disbelief. “You’re the most confident person I know!” 

“What are you talking about?” 

“The first day I met you, you took it upon yourself to help someone you just met. Heck, you helped me run away from my bodyguard and took me on a ride around Paris; something I could never do on my own. At school yesterday, you seemed to know I needed help so you stood up to Chloe and didn’t let her have her way. From how everyone else reacted, seems like no one really does that.” 

“Well, I mean, that—that was just simple stuff! It’s not all that impressive…” Marinette stuttered out. 

Chat took her hands in his, causing Marinette’s face to heat up. “And yet, you were the  _ only _ one around to do those things. For me. You’re amazing, without all the superpowers and invincible suit.” 

And what could she say to that? Little did Adrien know, but Marinette wasn’t usually like that. Chloe used to walk around the school without anyone to challenge her, least of all Marinette. And she didn’t run into strangers in need all that often. But, she guessed Adrien was half-right. 

He was a boy homeschooled his whole life and in need of a little freedom and friends. Marinette just wanted to do what she could to help. 

But that didn’t mean she was cut out to be a superhero! 

“I won’t argue with you,” she said, causing Chat to grin once more, “but I’m not putting these earrings back on. I’ll help you find someone else instead.” 

Chat pouted and his magical ears pressed down against his head. Marinette stared, wondering if he was doing that consciously. 

“Can I really not change your mind?” 

“Nope.” 

Chat sighed. “Fine, but at least come with to investigate the golems around Paris. If you’re depriving me of a super partner for now, at least be my civilian partner for now.” 

“But what about school?” 

“It doesn’t start for another two hours. I’m surprised you’re up this early. Anyway, that’s plenty of time to collect some clues and start figuring out how to turn everyone back to normal.” 

Marinette looked at him skeptically, not sure if she should agree. 

“Come on, I’m not forcing you to be Ladybug again, but at least give me something.” 

A few seconds of staring at one another, Marinette finally looked away. “Fine” she groaned, “get out first so I can change.” 

Chat pumped his fist in victory and shouted “Yes!” as he bounded up her bed and onto her balcony. 

Marinette smiled and shook her head before looking at the earrings in her hand. She placed them back in the box they came in and hesitated, wondering if she was giving up too soon. 

_ Giving up what? _ her head asked.  _ A one-way ticket to danger and probably a lot of stress? _

A knock startled her out of her thoughts. 

“Come on, Princess, we’re burning daylight out here!” 

A quick decision later and Marinette was throwing on jeans and a hoodie before joining her friend, acutely aware of the weight of the box in her pocket. 

_ A chance to do something good, _ her heart answered back,  _ something miraculous.  _

… 

Jumping down from Chat’s back, Marinette adjusted her hood so that it covered her hair and kept her face in as much shadow as possible. Her heart was still racing from being carried over all the rooftops and she briefly wondered if she would miss the feeling despite only having experienced it for a day. But as her hand brushed across her bare earlobe, she shook the thought away. 

“It looks just like the one from yesterday,” she heard Chat say. She quickly came up beside him as he scrutinized the frozen golem before them. 

It was a bit of a challenge finding one that wasn’t out in the open where someone could easily spot them but after twenty minutes of exploring they had found a golem in an obscure alleyway near the Trocadero. 

“You think it’s safe to touch?” Marinette asked. 

Chat shrugged. “Only one way to find out.” 

He reached a hand toward the golem’s shoulder and tensed up a little, as if expecting something to jump out at him. Honestly, Marinette felt the same way. But when the gloved hand finally met with the solid rock, nothing happened. 

The teens sighed in relief. 

With that, they allowed themselves to scrutinize the figure more closely. 

“Do you think we can turn them back to normal the same way we did yesterday?” 

Marinette pursed her lips. “I don’t see why not. But to do that we’d need to find the object that was possessed by the akuma.” 

Chat tilted his head at the golem, then reached out and tugged on a protruding piece of rock on top its head. “Like this maybe?” 

Apparently he tugged too hard and the jutting rock broke off, allowing a purple butterfly to flutter out. 

The teens stared at it for a moment as it calmly floated along the wind and up toward the sky. 

And then they panicked. 

“What did you do that for!?” 

“I wasn’t pulling that hard!” 

“Why did you pull it at all if you weren’t trying to break it off!?” 

“I was investigating it!” 

“How are we supposed to purify the akuma?” 

“I dunno! Why don’t you transform?” 

While the two bickered, they didn’t notice when the butterfly came back, this time accompanied by an entire swarm of them. 

They only stopped when a shadow cast over them and they turned to see the bugs form together to create a face about the size of Marinette’s father and floating several feet above them. 

Freaking out a bit, Marinette tugged her hood to further conceal her face. Chat grabbed his baton and lengthened it into a staff while falling into a defensive pose. 

It startled them slightly when the face began to speak. 

“Interesting. You are just mere children,” a deep voice drawled. 

Chat seemed to stiffen at the dismissal. 

“Who are you?” he demanded, gripping his weapon tighter. 

“Now, now, no need to be so hostile,” the face patronized. “After all, I am a fellow Miraculous holder. You may call me Hawk Moth.” 

“Hawk Moth?” the two teens repeated. 

“Why are you doing this, Hawk Moth?” Marinette questioned. “What do you gain from attacking innocent people?” 

“Well, girl, I assume you are the ladybug.” Marinette didn’t answer, but Hawk Moth continued unperturbed. “The jewelry you and your partner possess holds a great power, the likes of which you can’t even begin to understand. Though, considering you aren’t transformed right now, perhaps you are aware and the idea of it scares you?” 

“I—” Marinette wanted to argue, but this man was half right. She  _ was  _ scared. Scared of totally screwing up. 

“This makes things easy. Why don’t you hand over your Miraculous to me, and it’ll be out of sight and out of mind. It is an unfair responsibility to place on such young shoulders.” 

“No way,” Chat nearly growled. “You’ve nearly destroyed Paris yesterday and that was before you told anyone what you wanted. How do we know you aren’t planning something worse?” 

Hawk Moth was silent for a moment and Marinette worried that Chat had angered him. Would they be attacked? 

Thankfully, it didn’t seem it would come to that. 

“You’re a lot smarter than you first seem, boy. Just know this, if you aren’t going to hand over your Miraculous willingly, you will be forced to do so sooner or later. Your choice.” 

With that, the purple butterflies dispersed until there was no trace of Hawk Moth left. 

The golem that had previously been frozen collapsed to the ground and transformed back into a civilian. Chat and Marinette ran to the woman, who was holding her head and looking around in confusion. 

“Wha—what happened?” she asked when the teens stopped in front of her. She must have really been out of it if the appearance of a strange boy wearing a catsuit and a shady looking girl with a hidden face didn’t initially freak her out. 

“You were possessed by a corrupted butterfly and turned into a rock monster.” 

Marinette facepalmed. She needed to teach Adrien some tact. 

Sure enough, the woman seemed to come to her senses finally and she screamed out “Get away from me you weirdos!” before running out of the alley. It seemed to attract the attention of some patrolling police officers, and considering the woman’s reaction, it wouldn’t be a good idea to be caught by actual authorities at this time. 

“Looks like it’s time to scat, Princess,”

Marinette nodded and within seconds they were back to traveling over the rooftops. 

… 

After Chat dropped Marinette off at her balcony, he leapt back down to the streets to transform back to adrien and enter the bakery the normal way. Tom greeted Adrien, relieved to see the boy was fine, and gestured him upstairs. When Adrien entered the family’s home, he was greeted by mouth watering smells as he joined Marinette and Sabine for breakfast. Sabine eventually left the teens alone, which allowed them to turn up the volume of the TV and listen to the news without interruption. 

_ “Don’t be bemused, it’s just the news.” _

“Isn’t she the lady you were delivering pastries to that one day?” 

“Yeah, she’s a family friend. Now shh!”

_ “I’m here with Louise Laurent, who was previously one of the immobile stone beings that were transformed earlier this morning. She says that upon waking up, she was confronted by a suspicious boy and girl, the former of which seems to be Chat Noir from the pair of superheroes who first appeared yesterday to defeat the active stone being that was rampaging across Paris. Tell me, Louise, what was that encounter like?” _

_ “What can I say? They looked like a pair of lunatics, especially that cat boy. They said I was possessed or something by, by a  _ butterfly _ of all things. Honestly I just want to go home now and forget any of it happened.”  _

“Okay, I see now how crazy I probably sounded.”

“You mean you don’t normally talk crazy?”

“Shut up, Plagg.” 

_ “Of course, Louise. One last question for you then: Do you believe Paris’s first impressions of the super duo are correct? Are they really here to do good?” _

_ “To be honest, they seem really suspicious. They appeared around the same time that creature showed up yesterday. For all we know, they could be a pair of magical kids who caused it to happen in the first place.”  _

_ “Thank you, Louise, I hope you get home safely. There you have it, folks. Paris should err on the side of caution when it comes to the mysterious Ladybug and Chat Noir. Are they friend or foe? Are they truly superheroes or simply young vigilantes in way over their heads? Or perhaps they are the ones who caused the “Golem Curse,” as many have started to call this event. Many questions surround them and until they are answered, authorities advise all Parisians to stay alert. This is Nadja Chamack, reporting from the Trocadero.” _

The TV shut off. 

“Mari…?” 

Groaning loudly, Marinette flopped onto the counter, burying her face in her arms. “Everyone in Paris thinks we’re criminals now!” 

Adrien pat her on the back comfortingly. He couldn’t argue with that. 

He was hesitant to ask, but it was eating away at him ever since they first left Marinette’s home earlier that morning. “So…I’m guessing this means you won’t be keeping the Ladybug earrings then?” 

To his surprise, Marinette didn’t immediately confirm it. She lifted her head and looked deep in thought. Her eyebrows scrunched together in this cute way that made Adrien want to poke her forehead. Instead he kept himself in check and waited for her response. 

“There’s this part of me that says it’ll be for my own good if I’m not Ladybug anymore.” 

Adrien felt there was more. “But?” 

Marinette looked up and met his searching gaze. “But a bigger part of me is shouting over it, saying that it wouldn’t be for anyone else’s good if I quit now.” 

Hope filled Adrien. He wasn’t sure how he would feel if his awesome (best?) friend of a partner were to be so quickly replaced. “So…?” he prompted, not able to keep a smile from emerging. 

Marinette reached into her bag and pulled out a familiar looking box. Opening the lid and setting the pair of earrings in her palm caused a red light to appear for a few seconds until it faded into a kwami. 

“Marinette!” 

“Tikki,” the girl began solemnly, “I’m sorry for before. But I have to tell to you right now that I don’t regret letting Adrien know my identity. Things have changed though, and I realize the danger that all my friends and family are in. I can’t stand by and give up the chance to protect them. If you’re willing to give me a chance, I’d like to try again. So what do you say?” 

For all the strictness that Tikki exuded before, her face held the softest yet proudest expression now. 

“I say you’re going to make a great Ladybug.” 

Marinette took that as her cue to put the earrings on, and it was strange, Adrien felt as if they always belonged there. The feeling was similar to when he put his ring on for the first time, not to mention it was a perfect fit. 

After exchanging an understanding look with Tikki, Marinette turned to Adrien. 

“About Hawk Moth—”

Here, Adrien grew serious. Their first full team meeting was happening and he was going to memorize every detail of it. 

“—the people of Paris have no idea that this guy exists. He’s hurt people already trying to get what he wants and we’re not dumb enough to think he won’t stop hurting people.” 

“Everyone might start calling us criminals but he’s the real villain, isn’t he?” 

Marinette nodded. “Right. They may not know the full truth, but whether or not I had given up these earrings to someone else,  _ I _ know who he is. They say ignorance is bliss. But no matter what happens now, I’m— _ we’re _ no longer ignorant. I can’t stand by doing nothing. Are you with me?”   
  
Adrien gave a wicked grin, excited to get started. 

“Always.” 

 

**_End… for now._ **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there we have it. I've decided to end the origin story here, because all that would be different between the rest of this and canon is that Hawk Moth does not announce his intentions to all of Paris so a lot of Paris will still be wary of the kids. 
> 
> If anyone's interested, I'll be writing more short stories in this AU that include the moments when their friends and family (meaning Marinette's parents) find out their secrets. I'm also in the middle of writing a one- or two-shot of the Volpina episode for this AU, if anyone's curiosity is piqued. (Preview summary: Lie-la is exposed purely because the Miracuclass are already in the know.)

**Author's Note:**

> I'm thinking of adding more one-shots or short stories to this series that focus on how all their friends and family learn of their secret identities. I first thought of making it one story so that I could create a ton of confusing situations for the characters (because it would be hilarious) but this will be easier for me to do.


End file.
